Friday, April 29, 2011

So Thursday evening, the first episode of Int'l After School aired on NHK World, a Japanese TV station aimed at foreigners interested in Japan. C-ute, along with WISE (a J-R&B artist) and special guest VERBAL (part of the J-R&B duo m-flo) hosted the show.

Since NHK World was created with the foreign demographic in mind, this show is done in both English and Japanese (and the Japanese parts are subtitled into English).

The show starts off with some introductions. WISE is the main MC and speaks fluent English and Japanese (his parents are Japanese and Irish-American).

Then C-ute are introduced. Unfortunately WISE mispronounces C-ute's name throughout the show, which makes me cringe a bit.

C-ute does their self introduction in engrish English, which is pretty cute.

Afterwards, an introduction video of C-ute is shown with a female narrator that not only pronounces C-ute's group name worse than WISE, but also completely fails at pronouncing the girl's names by consistently stressing the wrong syllables.*sigh*

Finally, VERBAL is introduced. He went to an American university, so he also is fluent in English.

The first topic is

Before the show aired, girls were asked to email the show with pictures of their fashion. One of them is familiar

I seriously yelled "Koharu?!" to my friend when I saw that picture. I thought that Lenny from Lebanon looks eerily like Koharu, so I looked through Koharu's Sugar Doll photobook, compared the pictures... and yes, that *is* Koharu. For reference, here is the PB picture:

I don't think that Lenny meant that it is a picture of her, but WISE and VERBAL were going on as if that actually is her picture, fail. Then, C-ute also went on to say

lolwut? I hope that C-ute was just playing along or something, otherwise I'll have to facepalm.

C-ute then goes on to describe some of their current fashion points. Airi talks about a small necklace her mother bought her.

That necklace looks so happy to be that close to Airi's chest

Chisa mentions that she likes to change earrings when they change outfits during concerts.

awesome nails

Maichan reveals the secret to her heart

C-ute talks about their past cosplay

Moving on to the next topic,

Let's go!

Guys were asked to send emails in on where they would take C-ute on a date.

Alejandro from Mexico mentions that he would take them to the beach.

I love how both Airi and Mai both have their hands over their cheeks

Juan from Spain says that he would take them to a Spanish restaurant and then for a walk along the river. C-ute responds with

Congrats Juan, they like your idea

However, Nakky explains why it wouldn't work.

Mark talks about doing London-y stuff, but Chisato is busy noticing that he has on her member T-shirt.

Good choice, Mark

Then, Nakky makes a suggestion

Lucky Mark, Chisato wants to go

Another fan, Jeremy from Singapore, decides that Chisato is his target also.

Chisa is apparently in the date mood

The next email is for Airi. The guy mentions that he would hold her hand and see the stars with her.

No, RICARDO from Peru, you may not see the stars with Airi.

Kyaaaa~ so cute

Andrew reinforces the idea that Americans are bold by saying he would take Maimi to dinner, to a movie, and then give her a kiss.

denied

Dame yo~

at least you made Maimi blush, Andrew

WISE mentions that girls should send him emails about where they would take him. Guys should continue sending emails about where they would take C-ute.

YES PREAZE

Oh C-ute <3

Next topic is

(and also after school activities)

They begin discussing how food sizes overseas is quite different from in Japan.

Afterwards, we go on location with Maimi and Mai in search of a

so much for American sizes being bigger

They then went to get Japanese style desserts.

Finally, they go to buy crepes.

and apparently brought some back with them

Most of them have fruit, chocolate, and other desserts inside of them,

A couple more pictures from foreign fans are shown and the show ends with some closing comments.

Overall I had tons of fun watching the show live. Re-watching it revealed some things that stuck out that I missed live, but the show was still awesome nonetheless. The topics were pretty interesting, as were the responses (especially the date segment - how rare to talk about a subject like that, even if in a joking manner!). Props to the brave people who sent in their pictures and emails. And going on location with Maimi and Mai really added a lot to the show.

There is currently no announcement for when a second episode will air, but I'm optimistic that it will be soon. You should keep checking the official site for information.

12
comments:

You're welcome! I had to record it. I love C-ute and how often do they go on an English show?The glitches were because of internet lag... Thankfully they weren't that bad.Also, sorry for my poor encode. I used Windows Movie Maker XD

Awe, poor Koharu, forgotten already. I can't really imagine that any C-ute members had spent a significant amount of time with her to be able to recognize her from this picture. Well, Mai, but Kira ☆ Pika was a long time ago for a girl her age.

I might finally get to see Saki and her scarf! That's where the show got most laggy for me along with Maimi and Mai's date. I just kept seeing her every few seconds in a strange position with the scarf that didn't make sense.

*watches video* Awe, it got laggy for LoveSayumin in those parts too. Not as bad as mine but still there.

Gummy bear Jessica looked a bit like young Chisato in the face. That kinda threw me.

Anyway, this copy is much better than any live viewing for me would be, so much thanks to LoveSayumin and you!

"I seriously yelled "Koharu?!" to my friend when I saw that picture. I thought that Lenny from Lebanon looks eerily like Koharu, so I looked through Koharu's Sugar Doll photobook, compared the pictures... and yes, that *is* Koharu. For reference, here is the PB picture:"is that friend me?

Nakky had a strange look on her face. It reminds me of the face a nervous person makes when they have to make a speech in front of a large number of people. Like she'd rather be anywhere else but there. But maybe that's just my imagination running wild.

Hi there :DI'm from indonesia and a big fan of Maimi XDFirstly, credit to you all who has brought the file to the net so i can watch it, since i dont have satellite TV T-T. You guys are awesome XD. Thx.